Posts Tagged ‘open space’

How is your community’s agenda established?

October 30th, 2009

I recently stumbled on an idea that won’t let go of me.  I love those kind of ideas-something I can’t ignore, even if the Swedish side of my brain is telling me ‘no, not another project.’    So, here it is. 

The town of Harrisonburg, VA has started something called the Harrisonburg Summits  to create intentional opportunities for public conversation around important issues facing the community.  The idea in and of itself isn’t new.  What puts it over the top, in my mind, is the use of Open Space Technology. 

What’s Open Space Technology?

I first learned about Open Space Technology at an Art of Hosting training sponsored, in part, by the Rural Learning Center.  The RLC understands that conversation, and the ability to host conversation, is a critical need in our rural communities.  Open Space is one tool we use to do that.  At its most basic, Open Space is a facilitation process that allows meeting participants to create the agenda around a specified topic based on what’s most important to the people in the room.  Several conversations are hosted at one time, and people can choose to participate in whichever is most interesting to them.   There is a lot more to it, but the premise that it genuinely allows the voices of those in the room to influence the outcome is most important here.  This is vital if your goal is to engage people both in conversation, and then in the work that follows. 

See what Harrisonburg residents think of the process in the video below. 


 

The importance of involvement from the start.

Why is it so important to engage people in the process of creating the agenda?  I think the answer begins and ends with one principle: people care more about ideas and projects that they feel a part of.  Gone are the days when a city leader can come to a group of people with a project identified and execution planned, and simply ask for their help in doing the work.  People want to feel more a part of the process, and their ownership is fundamental to getting the project completed.  That ownership is one of the reasons why the community building work in Miner County has been so successful; people’s individual ideas and passions became the community’s ideas and passions.  And they were willing to work hard to make things happen.

The Harrisonburg Summit webpage indicates that the summit started as a one-time project. They indicate that it continued because “the event was so successful.” What I would surmise is that the summits have continued because it has created a renewed sense of ownership and contribution for residents.  They have become a part of something that matters. 

If your community is looking for a meaningful way to engage residents, I think the Harrisonburg model is something to consider.

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